2nd Air Defence Regiment (The Vancouver Regiment)

The 2nd Air Defence Regiment (The Vancouver Regiment) , RBCA is a regiment of the BC Army, and is an air defence unit of the Royal Regiment of British Columbia Artillery.

A Battery is an active force formation equipped with surface-to-air missiles, while B Battery is a Militia (reserve force) formation equipped with towed anti-aircraft guns.

Some ranks in Royal BC Artillery units are different from those in other Army units. Specifically, in in all units of the Royal Regiment of British Columbia Artillery a Private is called a Gunner (Gnr), a Lance Corporal is called a Lance Bombardier (L Bdr) and a Corporal is called a Bombardier (Bdr).

History
The 2nd Air Defence Regiment (The Vancouver Regiment) traces its origins back to 1899, when the Vancouver Artillery Regiment was formed at Point Grey, Vancouver. The 1st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment was formed in 1915 and was deployed to Europe for the duration of the Great War. As part of the 1920 restructuring of British Columbia's artillery units, the Vancouver Artillery Regiment and the 1st AAA Regiment were amalgamated and the new regiment was designated as the 2nd Air Defence Regiment (The Vancouver Regiment).

The regiment was mobilised for the Second World War in 1939 and, after training periods in BC and the United Kingdom, went on to serve in North Africa until 1942, when it returned to BC and subsequently took part in the Aleutian Islands campaign and other engagements in the Pacific theatre.

The regiment was once again mobilised in 1951 and served in Korea throughout the Korean War until the armistice of 1953. Alpha Battery was also deployed to Afghanistan, where it served in the airfield defence role at Kabul airport.

Battle Honours

 * First World War: (multiple)
 * Second World War: Aleutian Islands 1942-43; (multiple others)
 * Korea 1951-1953

Equipment

 * BL 15-pounder 7 cwt field gun (76.2 mm) (1899-1918)
 * BL 5-inch howitzer (127 mm) (1899-1920)
 * QF 13-pounder field gun (76.2 mm) (1904-1939)
 * Bofors QF 40 mm anti-aircraft gun (40 mm) (1936-1988)
 * QF 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun (94 mm) (1938-1968)
 * Polsten 20 mm anti-aircraft gun (20 mm) (1945-1953)
 * Tigercat surface-to-air missile (1968-1979)
 * Rapier surface-to-air missile (1977 to date)
 * Oerlikon GDF-005 anti-aircraft gun (35 mm) with Skyguard radar (1986 to date)

Regimental Alliances

 * Australia Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery
 * Canada Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
 * India Regiment of Artillery
 * New Zealand Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
 * Rhodesia Royal Regiment of Rhodesian Artillery
 * South Africa South African Artillery Corps
 * United Kingdom Royal Regiment of Artillery